Keeler and Birmingham Optical have donated an £18,000 top of the range slit lamp to the Brighton Vision Care for Homeless People clinic stationed in BHT Sussex’s First Base Day Centre. The new equipment will greatly improve care for patients and enhance the optometrists’ clinical abilities.
Replacing a 30-year-old slit lamp, the new model enables the optometrist to engage the patient with the findings and in any possible treatment pathway, as Nicola Bennett, Keeler Clinical Product Training Manager explained:
This slit lamp will help to provide better monitoring, help with referrals, and enable the clinician to talk through the findings with the captured images. The data storage will be useful if patients return for further checks. The impact of this enhanced care can be enormous in moving people along the right pathways at the VCHP clinic within First Base Day Centre, and wider health concerns can be identified via screening. Not being able to see can be a barrier to literacy.”
The slit lamp was manufactured at Keeler’s Windsor laboratory and was calibrated on site at First Base Day Centre by Keeler Business Development Manager, Nick Hamlett.
Amanda Higginbotham, COO, Birmingham Optical, was delighted to support the Brighton clinic:
Our joint collaboration to provide the Keeler Digital Symphony slit-lamp and IT requirements shows the strength of our partnership to support such a worthy charity.”
VCHP knows the generous gift will enhance the work of volunteer optometrists. The charity is looking for additional volunteers across all VCHP clinics so those who have a few hours to spare should contact helen.harms@vchp.org.uk.
